


you hollow out my hungry eyes

by cursive



Category: NU'EST, Produce 101 (TV), Wanna One (Band)
Genre: Angst, Beautiful-verse, Friends to Lovers, M/M, lapslock
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-14
Updated: 2017-11-15
Packaged: 2019-02-02 06:36:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,146
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12721494
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cursive/pseuds/cursive
Summary: a small collection of drabbles set in the Beautiful MV universe. onghwang-centric.





	1. stargazing

**Author's Note:**

> i said i wouldn't write anything for this MV. i lied.
> 
> irregular updates, estimated word count for each drabble: 500-1k words, onghwang-centric but i'll try to give the kids more screentime than ymc did in the mv.
> 
> first one is cha brothers/onghwang, stargazing. enjoy.

“there’s this guy”, seongwoo tells daniel in secret under the starry sky. their shoulders touch where they lie down on the rooftop of daniel’s shoddy building, that familiarity neither had felt in years seeping through the shared warmth. “we study together. he puts up with a lot of my bullshit. even cares if i’m late or not to class.” he chuckles under his breath, attracting daniel’s curious stare to him. “cares about you, too. he wants to meet you.”

daniel smiles fondly; seongwoo reciprocates the gesture. “do you like him, hyung?”, he asks, bluntly enough for seongwoo’s smile to falter in fear and surprise, sweetly enough that it doesn’t wipe it off entirely once the elder realizes he means no harm in his question. seongwoo relaxes, looks up to the sky again, tries not to think of twin crescents and low, pleasant laughter, reminiscent but not the same as his brother’s. he fails, but daniel doesn’t need to know.

“i suppose”, he replies, eyes darting to the moon, still in the beginnings of its crescent phase, “I wouldn’t mind spending the rest of my life working by his side.”

it’s true, but it’s not the whole story; seongwoo thinks he wouldn’t mind waking up to his sleeping face every morning, wouldn’t mind going to sleep entangled in his limbs, like they did once, while very drunk, and never mentioned again, wouldn’t mind sharing not only a bed, but every bit and piece of his life worth sharing so far.

dangerous thoughts, still; seongwoo steers clear from them as daniel’s low laughter reaches his ears.

“that’s not what i asked, hyung.”

seongwoo chuckles. “getting nosy, aren’t we?”

“hey!”, daniel protested lightly. “i think i’m entitled to know every detail of your life, now.” seongwoo can hear the pout in his voice; memories of childhood games and of teasing a much, much smaller boy over twenty years ago flood his mind and fill his chest with warmth.

“i guess i owe you that much”, the elder reasons, tilting his head to look at daniel, eyes glinting. “i like him. i like minhyunie a lot.”

it hurts, because saying it out loud still makes it ring true, and he half-expected it to come off strained, an unwanted confession. instead, it simply feels like exhaling after holding the air in for too long, it feels like a release he didn’t know he’d ever needed.

daniel’s gaze on him is unwavering, full of what seongwoo missed the most on the younger, what he craved for the most but rarely allowed himself to indulge in, guilt-ridden and determined to right what he deemed was his wrong. it threatens to make his chest burst, the sheer amount of affection in the younger’s eyes. he feels ready to forgive himself, for once.

“if hyung likes him, i like him too”, daniel finally says, flashing seongwoo a toothy smile that seongwoo once again returns with one of his own. matching eyes and crooked teeth, daniel becomes again what seongwoo had once called _home_.

for now, he thinks, he can make peace with himself, his inner demons and dangerous thoughts; so long as he has daniel’s approving gaze upon him, there’s little seongwoo thinks he cannot do.


	2. persistence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> prompt: persistence. onghwang-centric.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> don't look at me, these suddenly got way too hard to write...
> 
> anyway have some pre-daniel onghwang, because who needs any chronological order in this mess, right.
> 
> thanks for all the love for this messy side project!! <3 i haven't felt this loved in a fandom in so long... i'm really grateful to be writing for you guys.

seongwoo often took pride in his persistence.

it had taken him places, brought back to him the most precious things in his life – his family, complete again –, earned him compliments and appreciation from teachers and bosses alike.

his persistence had cost him dearly: long, sleepless nights trying to find ways to turn the crushing guilt he felt into determination to search – and find – his brother, longer days of school and part-time jobs that took away any chance he had at making friends in school, short time for himself and for the _rest_ of his family, broken and dysfunctional as it had become after their loss. still, once he had daniel, the _real_ daniel, not the one that haunted his dreams in the nights that he did sleep, right in front of him, smiling like he, too, had found the most precious thing in his life, there was nothing he could regret about every decision that led him to that moment.

minhyun, on the other hand, was just plain stubborn.

(or at least that was how seongwoo called minhyun’s brand of persistence for a long time)

they had met still in high school; minhyun, class representative and aspiring student council president, was often the one tasked to scold seongwoo for coming late to class in the mornings he accidentally overslept due to exhaustion from work the night before. minhyun knew little about the other boy, other than what everyone else knew: seongwoo was a funny person, a smart student, but he would always keep his distance. he had no close friends, no rumors of dating around, no other extracurricular activities other than frequenting the school’s judo club once in a blue moon, when he had the time off from one of his part-time jobs to do so. they happened to share that one activity, and in the days he did come, minhyun could tell seongwoo was a promising fighter, giving it his all just like he seemed to in every other activity in his life.

minhyun had been curious, at first: why would such a good student get late and even miss class altogether for no apparent reason?

(he could see the dark circles under seongwoo’s eyes, the permanent droop in his eyelids, his slumped shoulders; yet, he knew that was only what seongwoo couldn’t conceal. for some reason, minhyun craved to see what lied underneath that)

not one known for beating around the bush, by the fifth time he had to scold seongwoo for his tardiness, minhyun already seemed to have no qualms about prying.

“didn’t you sleep last night, seongwoo-ssi? up late playing games?”

“did you think the teachers would let you off the hook just because your grades are decent, seongwoo-ssi?”

“ah, seongwoo-ssi, why did you come so early for tomorrow’s class?”

at first, seongwoo had hated when minhyun’s questions came off as taunting, but he had hated him the most when his questions started to sound more concerned than challenging.

“seongwoo-ssi, is there something wrong? are you feeling ill?”

“you don’t seem well today, seongwoo-ssi. would you like to go to the nurse’s office?”

“i know i’m not the best person around for that, but would you like to talk, seongwoo-ssi? you seem troubled.”

he would often respond in kind, when minhyun would taunt him, or simply ignore the small lecture that followed. what would catch him off guard was that there was never a lecture on the days minhyun looked – and sounded genuinely concerned about him, a small frown etched on his otherwise unblemished features ( _too flawless_ , seongwoo would think bitterly); instead, he would insist on trying to help him in any way until seongwoo had to resort to being downright rude in hopes minhyun would hate him back and maybe let go.

minhyun never did.

he would give seongwoo space, of course, wouldn’t insist when he realized it was a losing battle, but would try again the next day seongwoo was late, growing increasingly gentler and more patient in his attempts. seongwoo would never understand why, as his responses only became steadily worse; one day, after a particularly bad night at his delivery job, his patience waned, and he slammed minhyun to the wall of the corridor the minute his questioning started.

“what do you want from me”, he deadpanned, tempted to press his arm against the other boy’s throat, “stop trying to be nice. i’m not convinced.”

to his credit, minhyun looked as calm as ever, despite the wild thumping of his heart against seongwoo’s arm telling him otherwise. the weight of his gaze on seongwoo was what made him pull away, muttering a short apology he did not really mean, but that minhyun accepted anyway.

“if i’m not nice to you”, minhyun muttered back, adjusting his uniform where seongwoo’s arm had wrinkled it, “i don’t think anyone else will.”

seongwoo didn’t need the reminder; pressing his lips together, he turned away from the other boy, ready to make his way back to classroom and forget that attempt at a confrontation had ever happened.

minhyun’s voice, small and full of shame, stopped him in his tracks.

“you know, at first i was curious”, he confessed, fidgeting in place. seongwoo gave him a sidelong glance, but didn’t move further. “i wanted to know your story, but for selfish reasons. i don’t think i care about it anymore, now.”

seongwoo turned around, hesitantly, ready to ask him _and why are you telling me that now_.

“i moved here from busan a few years ago”, minhyun continued. “as someone who also has a hard time making friends, i… i’d like to offer you my friendship.”

_i don’t have a hard time making friends_ , seongwoo wanted to retort, _i don’t_ need _to have friends._

( _i don’t deserve to have friends_ , he would add in his mind)

“you don’t have to accept it right away”, minhyun fidgeted again. “you don’t even have to accept it if you really don’t want to. just…” he sighed, rubbing his arm. “… try to accept that there are people here who care about you, seongwoo-ssi. i’m one of them.”

before seongwoo could respond (or even process what kind of confession was that), minhyun walked back into the classroom. he had no choice but to follow him, questions clouding his mind and that small voice in the back of his head quietly reminding him that he would never be worth that boy’s trouble.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ugh, this feels... incomplete. companion piece to follow next chapter because i didn't want to extend my word limit for these too much. prompt will be food-related.


	3. eating together

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> onghwang, prompt: eating together. a companion of sorts to the previous chapter,

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> don't expect me to be this fast from today on lmao i've been siphoning all of my inspiration to these drabbles... and they're getting steadily longer, which means i should probably stop.
> 
> anyway here's the companion piece to that mess of a second drabble. still messy, but i hope you'll enjoy it regardless :)

“i can’t believe you’re having that again.”

seongwoo doesn’t need to look up to know who is scolding him. with a small smile, he calmly continues to open up his instant ramyeon, watching from the corner of his eyes his table slowly be filled with different colored lunchboxes. minhyun then sits in front of him, looking the type of stern he likes to sell himself as (and that seongwoo always sees right through; minhyun had always been bad at playing pretend, in his eyes), and slowly opens each box, shoving them closer to seongwoo’s ramyeon bowl.

“i don’t know why you insist on having those when you know i always make more than enough food for the two of us”, minhyun grumbles, and seongwoo’s smile widens. “eating healthy for once would do you some good, you know.”

“your food compliments my ramyeon nicely”, seongwoo shrugs, peeking at the now open lunchboxes, then flashing minhyun a grateful smile that has minhyun scoffing in mock offense. “everything looks delicious as always.”

minhyun rolls his eyes. “you wouldn’t need the ramyeon if my food was that delicious.”

“but throwing it away now would be such a waste”, seongwoo retorts, unable to conceal his giddiness. “you’d hate that.”

he looks up and meets a pair of warm eyes; minhyun’s melodious laughter etches itself deep into his bones, deeper still into his heart. he knows he’s a sap, but he’s good at hiding that he’s one well enough for minhyun to never know that.

“i’d hate that”, minhyun repeats, eyes crinkling with laughter. “eat up, now.”

seongwoo happily complies.

they’d had that conversation several times before, seongwoo remembers; from the day minhyun had offered him his friendship, back at school, had made it his personal mission to make seongwoo eat properly. it was no easy task, especially because seongwoo preferred eating alone, and finding him during lunch break proved to be more difficult than minhyun had thought it would be.

he had eventually found seongwoo perched against a tree outside, eating his instant ramyeon like a madman, ravenous after skipping breakfast and barely eating during his night job. quietly placing his extra lunchbox in front of the other boy, minhyun sat down and made himself comfortable by his side, careful to keep enough distance not to startle him.

“i had a feeling you haven’t been eating well”, he had said, trying to act nonchalant; to seongwoo’s eyes, he fell very short of that. “and i know for a fact that you’re going to judo club practice today.” he looked away, bracing himself for the next lie. “i also… accidentally made more food than usual. thought i could share some.”

seongwoo remembers biting his lip not to question minhyun’s blatant lie: there was more than enough food for _two_ , and no one would make that much of a mistake and _bring the entire mistake to school_. he remembers watching warily as minhyun opened each lunchbox, the aroma of homemade food hitting his nose and eliciting a low, longing noise from his stomach. minhyun had made no comment other than nudging forward a box of fried rice.

he also remembers asking, “why do you happen to know my schedule?”, incredulous and suspicious, pressing his lips together in annoyance when minhyun’s composure fell and he turned into a flustered mess.

“you—you come to Tuesday practice more often than the other days”, minhyun replied, looking ashamed for his observation. “i actually took a guess that you were coming. still, you need food. eat to your heart’s content.” he picked up one of the boxes and decided to make himself busy by eating. seongwoo stared at him, then at the offending box, wondering what was the catch in all that, but the other boy remained quiet, seemingly enjoying his meal. he figured he shouldn’t let that much food go to waste and picked some of the fried rice for himself.

his mistake, the thinks, was letting minhyun turn that into a daily habit of theirs, slowly making room for himself under seongwoo’s skin, getting confessions and stories out of him that seongwoo had never told anyone else.

(seongwoo regrets nothing.)

“you look happy today”, minhyun _, present_ minhyun, chirps in halfway through their otherwise quiet meal together; a pang in seongwoo’s heart reminds him of the previous night, and his smile widens as much as his chest hurts. “i guess you had a good reason to miss class last night, huh?”

“ah, i—i can’t believe I forgot to tell you”, seongwoo mutters apologetically, “i was supposed to text you last night to let you know, but—”

“seongwoo”, minhyun gently interrupts him, putting down his chopsticks to pay full attention to him. “you were busy. i understand.”

“not exactly busy”, seongwoo replies, scratching at the back of his head. “minhyun.” he pauses, allows his smile to grow impossibly wider. the use of minhyun’s actual name, devoid of endearments or pet names makes the elder perk up, curious yet solemn. “i found him, minhyun. last night. i found him.”

minhyun frowns, at first, trying to figure out who is _him_ and what seongwoo is talking about; the moment it downs on him, his eyes and smile widen as much as seongwoo’s. “daniel, seongwoo? you found _daniel_?”

seongwoo nods wordlessly, lets his hands fall to the table, lets out a long, elated laugh; minhyun’s fingers tangle with his, knocking together until they fit perfectly, a gesture as natural as breathing to the two of them.

“god—seongwoo, this is so—” words fail minhyun, so he tightens his grip on seongwoo’s hands, eyes glinting.

“he was looking for me, too, can you believe it?”, seongwoo asks under his breath, suddenly overwhelmed by the memory, by daniel’s tight embrace and his tears, thicker than the rain, dampening his shoulder where his head laid for as long as he’d liked. “for as long as i was looking for him.”

they laugh, for no particular reason other than the joy they feel; it almost overwhelms seongwoo how happy for him minhyun seems to be, how minhyun looks at him as if he deserves to feel this much happiness despite being the one responsible for the long, dark period that preceded it ( _it wasn’t your fault_ , minhyun would tell him without fail; seongwoo, of course, only pretended to believe in him).

“this is amazing”, minhyun whispers, eye smile almost blinding, “this is—this is all i ever wanted for you. you deserved this. you deserved to find him.”

 _you’re lying_ , that nagging voice in the back of seongwoo’s head wants to tell him, _i deserve worse_ ; for once, seongwoo refuses to listen to it, as much as he knows it’s right. “you’re—you’re too good for me”, he says, instead, words failing him as much as they were failing minhyun, the two of them too emotional to care if they stuttered.

minhyun shakes his head in denial; once they calm down from their emotional high, he speaks again, reluctantly detangling his fingers from seongwoo. “so, how is he like?”

seongwoo sighs, absent-mindedly missing the warmth of minhyun’s hands on his, trying not to think too much about it. “he’s still the same”. he chuckles breathlessly, holding on to the memory of his brother like a lifeline. “he’s the kindest person i’ve ever met. we talked all night. i know—i know it may be too soon to say this, but i don’t think i’ll ever get tired of him. he—he deserves the world.”

“and so do you”, minhyun replies after a short pause, taking in everything seongwoo said; it would have seemed to go unheard had it not been for the quick rush of blood to seongwoo’s face as he laughs and dismisses his friend. “but did you really talk all night?”

“well uh”, seongwoo falters, laughs sheepishly, running a hand through his hair. “yeah? i came here straight from his apartment. didn’t get a wink of sleep.”

“and you plan on going to practice like this?” minhyun deadpans, his face growing concerned.

seongwoo shrugs. “well, i’m eating well enough”, he reasons, gesturing towards their full table. “you don’t think i’ve done this before?”

minhyun is not convinced by his cocky smile. “you should be resting.”

“i should be celebrating”, seongwoo corrects him, grabbing at his chopsticks again. “and i choose to celebrate by kicking your ass in practice today.”

“i’d like to see you try”, minhyun teases him back, also resuming his lunch. “are you sure, though?”

“yeah”, seongwoo nods, grinning confidently at his friend. “i don’t think there’s anything i can’t do, now.”

(he can think of quite a few things, including many related to the man right in front of him; for now, he convinces himself one more time that what they have is enough, and leaves it at that.

when minhyun laughs and tells him, “i never doubted you could do anything, either”, he finds it slightly harder not to do anything about the warmth that spreads through his chest and his trembling fingers that itched to reach out to him, to get closer, to do _anything_ , as long as they touch minhyun.

he had always been good at ignoring that which wasn’t his priority, though. he would get over the impulse, eventually.)


End file.
